Sale Report: Sotheby's Hong Kong 2017 Spring Sales
BY MEGHANA REDDY | APRIL 12, 2017
Andy Warhol's "Mao" (1973) sold for $HK 98,537,500 ($12,680,791) at Sotheby's Hong Kong
(Courtesy of Sotheby's)
The spring sales at Sotheby’s Hong Kong concluded last week bringing in $HK 3.17 billion ($406 million) in total revenue and topping the presale estimate of $HK 2.4 billion ($313 million). Eight-seven percent of the lots offered sold and 13 artist records were set. The sales series that took place April 1-5 featured more than 1,700 works spread out over 24 sales across categories such as Fine Chinese Paintings, Jewelry, Modern and Contemporay Art, Wine, and more.
Overall the results were rather tepid, with numbers lingering at spring 2016 levels. Last year’s results for the same series at Sotheby’s Hong Kong were heralded as a recovery at the time, with a 17% increase in revenue following a two-year slump in the market largely owed to the slowdown in the Chinese economy. However, these numbers were an anomaly as the results of the 2016 autumn sales recorded a 17% decline from autumn 2015 sales numbers.
The highest sales tallies of the week were for the Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which brought in $HK 573,817,500 ($73,850,386); Fine Chinese Paintings, with $HK 371,575,000; and Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite, with $HK 355,043,750 (($45,690,580). The leading lot of the season was the 'Pink Star Diamond,' which went on the block on April 4 as a standalone lot. The diamond grossed $HK 553,037,500 ($71,170,395), setting a world record for the most expensive jewel sold at auction. It was acquired by Hong Kong jeweller Chow Tai Fook and has since been renamed the 'CTF Pink Star.' The jewelry segment was promising overall, with tally of $HK 908,081,250 ($11,687,0173), increasing 59% from spring 2016. The luxury category, which includes jewelry, wine, and watches, brought in 33% of total revenue this year, up from 22% in spring 2016.
This year the house expanded the offerings of their Modern and Contemporary Art category by including offerings of western contemporary art alongside works by Asian artists — which the house has traditionaly focused on — in its evening sale. The evening sale presented 59 works, of which only six failed to sell, for a 90% sell through rate. Andy Warhol’s “Mao” (1973), the cover lot of the sale, was the top grossing work in the fine art segment, setting a record for the highest price paid for a work of western art in the region, even as it barely grazed past the low estimate. The work grossed $HK 98,537,500 ($12,680,791) against an estimate of $HK90,000,000 to 120,000,000. ($11,582,100-15,442,800). It last came to auction at Sotheby’s London in 2014, fetching £7,586,500 ($12,473,723), which nets no return for this buyer in the resale of this work at this time. Before that the work sold at auction in June 2000, again at Sotheby’s London, for £421,500 ($637,092). That the work failed to rally enthusiasm in the sales room is likely a combination of weak demand and the consolidation of the Warhol market. The artist’s “Ten One Dollar Bills,” which also went on the block at the same sale, sold for $HK 1,187,500 ($152,819). The price realized was well under the low estimate as it was pegged at $HK 1,800,000-2,400,000 ($231,642-308,856).
Other western contemporary artists performed better — the sale also included works by Jean Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Adrian Ghenie, and Damien Hirst. Basquiat’s “Water Worshipper” and Brown’s “ The Nymphs Have Departed” sold for $HK 42,287,500 ($5,441,978) against $HK 35,000,000-43,000,000 ($4,504,150-5,533,670) and $HK 6,700,000 ($862,223) against $HK 3,500,000-4,500,000 ($450,415-579,105) respectively, near and over the high estimate. Damien Hirst’s “Midas and the Infinite” sold for $HK 7,900,000 ($1,016,651) against $HK 6,500,000-8,500,000 ($836,485-1,093,865). Zao Wou-Ki’s “17.07.67” was the top lot for a work by an Asian artist in the Modern and Contemporary Art category, selling for $HK 40,037,500 ($5,152,426).
Day sales that featured modern and contemporary art, such as “Brushwork II - All The World’s A Stage” and “Moments of Flash,” fared well, grossing $HK 89,597,500 ($11,531,209) and $HK 6,931,250 ($892,052), and selling 100% of the lots offered.
Another exceptional standalone lot, an offshoot of the Important Chinese Art sale, was “Fishes in the Imperial Pond – An Exceptional Xuande Bowl,” which brought $HK 229,037,500 ($29,474,835). The blue and white engraved bowl, one of the only known works of its kind still in private hands, has been widely exhibited at institutions (such as the Tokyo Nation Museum) and set a record for early Ming work at auction. Other top lots in the Important Chinese Art category included two “Dragon” vases from the Qianlong period, which together grossed $HK 93,575,000 ($12,043,114). However, the “Rosette” moonflask from the Yongle period (the cover lot of the sale), which was estimated at $HK 30,000,000-40,000,000 ($3,860,700-5,147,600), failed to sell. Last year, a blue and white Ming porceliain moon flask from the same period from the Pilkington collection sold for $HK 110,520,000 ($14,250,449). Other sales focusing on ceramics and porcelain, such as “Yellow Ground Wares from the collection of Maureen Pilkington” and “In His Majesty's Palm: Exquisite Porcelain Playthings,” also fared well, tallying $HK 30,405,000 ($$3,913,127) and $HK 78,852,500 ($10,148,326), selling 100% of the lots offered.
The Fine Chinese Painting sale grossed $HK 371,575,000 ($47,821,750), selling 289 of 311 works offered, for a buy-in rate of 7%. Modern master Zhang Daqian’s “Lush Mountain’s in Misty Gleam,” the top lot of the sale, went for $HK 31,037,500 ($3,994,530). Daqian’s “Peach Blosson Spring” was the blockbuster lot in this category the previous year at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. The work set a record for the artist, selling for $HK 270,680,000 ($34,836,550). The category of Chinese Paintings and Works or Art represented 37% of the revenue during the sale series. Last year, the category represented 50% of the sales.
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